Fettered Lives
by aloola
Summary: This is an AU story based on the upcoming season 4 episode Travelers, so there may be spoilers.I'll leave the summary at that as I don't want to include any further spoilers in a story description.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, this is an AU piece prompted by the good people over at the whump thread. This is AU for the upcoming season four episode Travelers, so if you don't wish to be spoiled, read no further …but otherwise, jump aboard!

**Fettered Lives**

**Chapter One**

"Look Rodney, I don't care 'how' you managed to leave it there, lets just say that I don't think any of us had really had any intention of returning to the planet quite this quickly!"

Sheppard was pissed.

The initial visit to M6S 576 had been pretty successful in his books. The locals had welcomed them with open arms and after a brief tour of the town's facilities, they had gathered at the meeting rooms with the ten main elders to discuss the possibility of future trade arrangements. The towns folk had been more than happy to give them a tour of the fruit orchards when they had made contact originally, but it had been the fields of the coffee type bean crop that had had the team salivating. Coffee was a rare and much hoarded supply back in the city, more valuable as a commodity in the internal black market than chocolate bars or the new movies that arrived occasionally on the Daedalus.

The trade meeting had gone fairly smoothly, with Rodney only managing to upset two of the elders with his snarky comments. Teyla, as was becoming more and more frequent, had gently intervened and managed to dissolve the argument before it started, but Rodney had then sulked for the rest of the meeting, staring around the tall room, for all intents and purposes studying the wall hangings that decorated the smooth plaster walls. Sheppard had decided to ignored him, the trade agreement was very important to Atlantis, so he had left him to stew.

The meeting had lasted nearly two hours, but as they had risen to take their leave, Sheppard had felt confident that the agreement that had been brokered was a good one and he actually felt quite pleased with himself; diplomacy definitely wasn't one of his strong points.

The elders had insisted that they take a tour of the town and surrounding ruins at the conclusion of the talks and Rodney's interest had immediately been regained as they had finally approached the ruined sections of the city.

The walls in that part of the town had crumbled away, but there were definitely signs that the buildings had been inhabited if not within the last few hundred years, at the very least by peoples who had the ability to write, or at least engrave in 'ancient'. Rodney had disappeared into the buildings with his scanner and laptop, leaving the rest of the team to make small talk with the surprised elders.

Teyla had developed an affinity with one of the elders during the talks and had engaged in a deep discussion about the current situation regarding the Wraith. Their world had not been visited by a hive ship within the last century that the elder had been able to recall, but he had admitted that his people were realists and they knew that it would not be long before another culling took place, they had heard tales from worlds that had been hit quite recently and they knew that they lived on borrowed time. Teyla had found it difficult to listen to the man talk about his future. She knew how savage the Wraith attacks had become and her heart bled for this world.

Ronon had been bored. His stance had changed constantly as he had stood listening to the conversations taking place around him. He was always uncomfortable standing still, his body not used to inaction.. He had caught Sheppard's eye on several occasions and lifted an eyebrow in question, but Sheppard had just given an almost imperceptible shake of his head in answer, so Ronon had resigned himself to wandering around the ruins, following Rodney as he had knelt occasionally to study the texts he found engraved on the irregular stone panels placed haphazardly around the walls.

After approximately half an hour, Sheppard had finally reached his limit of 'nice'.

He could just about 'do' diplomatic, Elizabeth insisted on it; it was just that diplomacy didn't excite him the way it did her. Elizabeth's busy schedule negated her inclusion on many of their off world missions, so it was normally left to Lt. Colonel John Sheppard to step up to the plate and negotiate for the supplies they needed to replace their own dwindling resources.

Sheppard had found himself more than ready to leave when the elders had motioned towards the setting sun. An invitation had been offered to stay over night, but Sheppard had politely declined, his jaw had already started aching with the effort of continuous smiling. With a tight final smile to the chief elder, he had tapped his earpiece, calling the team back together in preparation for their departure.

Of course, Rodney being Rodney, he had been way behind the other members of the group.His attention had been totally focused on his examination of the script, so he had taken the longest to return to the clearing, appearing at a run a good minute after everybody else had been ready to embark on the journey back to the town centre and the waiting jumper.

The journey back to the town had passed pleasantly enough, but as they had approached the jumper, Sheppard had started to feel the stress that had built in his shoulders and neck dissolve away; flying the little ship always had that effect on him, the smooth ride easing even the most troubled soul. The niceties of departure had been completed non too soon for Sheppard and, hands duly shaken, the team had re-embarked and started the preparations for the short journey back to Atlantis.

As the rear hatch of the jumper had closed, sealing the team inside, Sheppard had breathed a deep sigh as he sank into the cockpit seat. It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed meeting the new folk, it wasn't even the fact that he had endured the last torturous few hours at the negotiating table. No. As he had sat in the pilots chair and started his pre-flight checks, he had closed his eyes for the briefest of moments and revelled in the feeling of freedom that he knew piloting the little ship would give him. The ancient gene allowed him the level of control during actual flight that he would have never dreamed possible back on Earth. The most complex of manoeuvres became simplicity itself as the ancient technology picked up on his slightest thought; translating the information instantly to allow the ship to react to him as if he were linked directly to the control consol.

He had smiled as he had felt the ship lift from the ground, and as they had headed back into the atmosphere and he had dialled the gate in orbit around the planet, he had known that there was nowhere else in the world that he would rather be.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

As Sheppard now stood listening to Rodney ranting, he closed his eyes and thought that actually there were many, many places that he would rather be than here now, listening to Rodney's diatribe.

The man had left his laptop behind on the planet, but was now taking it upon himself to effectively try to place the blame squarely on anyone else's shoulders except his own.

"Look, I was extremely busy, and with" he pointed over at Ronon as he spoke, "Conon there leaning over my shoulder the whole time, I'm surprised I brought anything back!"

"Rodney, it was your responsibility and you shouldn't have left it behind" Sheppard glowered at the scientist.

"Okay. Yes. I know, .. I shouldn't have left it behind, but that doesn't change the fact that we have to go back for it. The information I collated from those engraved panels needs to be analyzed." Rodney's face took on a sullen slant and Sheppard gave in. He turned in exasperation and boarded the jumper once more.

"Rodney, you owe me one. The last thing I need right now is more social hobnobbing. I'll go get the damned laptop, but you better believe me when I say that you owe me big time and I intend to collect!"

"Do you want us to accompany you Colonel?" Teyla could see that John was unimpressed with Rodney's mistake. She knew that he had found the earlier talks ..difficult. It had been blatently obvious at the time that he was uncomfortable in the meetings and she was well aware he was not a natural diplomat. Returning to the town so soon would not be high on his list of priorities.

"No, I'm good, thanks Teyla. Just a straight in and out," he looked over at Rodney, "you sure that the location you gave me was accurate; after all" he said, looking back at the others, "we all know how, 'extremely busy' you were!" Sheppard couldn't help the sarcasm from creeping into his voice; this wasn't his idea of a fun filled afternoon. He'd arranged a sparring session with Ronon after the debrief, but that would have to wait now, as would a visit to the mess hall.

"Yes the location is accurate. Do you want me to come and hold your hand as well!" Rodney was angry with himself. He shouldn't have left the valuable equipment behind. He should have been more careful, but the scanner had taken all of his attention at the time and he had fully intended to transfer the information when they returned to the labs. He glowered at Ronon. He blamed the big Satedan for distracting him, but Ronon returned the glower with a raised eyebrow, shrugged and turned away.

"Ok. Straight in and out. Don't wait up kids." Sheppard ran up the ramp into the hull of the jumper and pressed the glyph to close the hatch, than moved to the front of the machine to position himself once again in the pilots seat. As he dialled the gate address, he could imagine Elizabeth standing on the overhead balcony in the gate room. She had been as exasperated as he had been at the error, but what was done was done and there was nothing that could be done to undo it; all they could do now was retrieve the missing equipment as quickly as possible before it became damaged or heaven forbid, went missing.

As the chevrons engaged and the tumultuous wave of blue and white boiled out towards the steps that led up to the gate itself, Sheppard took the jumper down into the control room and readied himself to leave. He glanced up to the balcony where Elizabeth normally stood, but she wasn't there. As he looked over the balcony area towards her office, he could just make out her outline; she was talking to an animated Radek and totally oblivious to the imminent departure of the jumper below.

With a final half salute to the techs in the gate room, he instructed the jumper to depart and he felt the forward momentum push against him as the ship obeyed his command. _'Straight in and out, no problem ..Right?'_

Well, there I have to leave our intrepid hero for tonight, but I can assure you that things will unfortunately head rapidly downhill for our boy from now on!


	2. Chapter 2

Well here we are again. Another chapter bites the dust.

Again I don't own the characters, just taking them to play with for a while. Enjoy...

**Chapter Two**

The city had experienced several unexplained power fluctuations whilst the team had been involved in the trade negotiations. Radek had tried to find the cause, hoping to rectify the problem before they returned, but he had struck a blank.

As soon as the team had disembarked from the jumper, Rodney had disappeared with the waiting Radek, grumbling at the ineptitude of the Czeck, and it hadn't been until they had needed to run diagnostics on the control systems that Rodney had realised his laptop was missing.

As the missing laptop contained important research material Elizabeth had considered it important enough to justify a return journey, but had requested that Rodney stay behind to help with the power outage issue rather than return to the planets surface, the city couldn't afford to be without even minor systems for too long and Radek needed Rodney's help.

Ronon had been due his medical when they had returned from the planet, so had leaped at the opportunity to get out of it, but Sheppard had insisted he stay; as military leader of the city, he had to show that he saw the health of his team members as a priority too so, much to Ronon's chagrin, he had been 'encouraged' down the corridor towards the infirmary and the waiting Dr Keller.

If Sheppard was honest, even though the idea of having to be nice to the locals again wasn't his idea of fun, the thought of a couple of hours alone in the jumper with no reports to fill in and nobody badgering for his attention was, and he fully intended to make the most of the time away. After all he would be in the jumper alone, fully expecting to drop down to the surface, play nicely with the elders for as short a time as possible, retrieve the missing equipment and be back in time for tea.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

As the jumper shot out of the wormhole and Sheppard's eyes readjusted to the change in light intensity, he felt the ship's forward momentum suddenly lurch and then stop.

'_What the…'_

As if someone had flicked a switch, the control panel in front of him went completely dead.

'_Damn it what now, do I never get a break!'_

Sheppard tried to call up the HUD, he really needed a diagnostic right now, but the screen stayed eerily blank, totally unresponsive to his commands. As soon as the control panels had flickered and died, so had the lights in the compartment and he now found himself in almost complete darkness, the only light coming from a way distant sun.

'_Rodney, where are you when I need you'_

Sheppard was now starting to regret the decision that had been made to leave Rodney behind. He had a rudimentary knowledge himself of the ship's systems, but nothing compared to Rodney or Radek and as he now looked around the disabled ship, he became even more aware of his lack of technical knowledge.

'_Ok John, think logically. What would Rodney do now…apart from moan. He'd check the main control crystals …then he'd grouse about the dark'_

Sheppard couldn't help a small smile from catching on his lips as he thought about Rodney's reaction to him breaking the jumper, but needs must and he stood slowly and turned to the rear compartment. Rummaging through his pack, he found a flashlight, and turning it on, he returned to the front section and knelt by the control console. He gripped the small light between his teeth and placing his hands either side of the cover panel, pulled the cover off the crystal housing.

As soon as the cover popped, he felt a judder run through the ship's hull.

'_Oh damn it, did I do that!'_

The ship was moving!

As Sheppard stood shakily to his feet, he could feel the forward momentum taking the ship along, but as he looked down at the controls, they remained completely dead, so what the hell was moving the ship!

The view through the front port window was changing as the ship moved, Sheppard could see the stars changing position and he knew that the ship was changing course; his natural pilots instincts had clicked in as soon as the ship had first moved, the inertia telling him that something was out of true.

He leaned forward, desperate to find out what was causing the ship to move. There didn't appear to be anything outside the jumper apart from the same empty space that had been there before, but that couldn't be right, there had to be a reason why he had lost power in the first place and why the ship now felt as if it was being towed forwards.

The forward movement continued for several minutes, until Sheppard felt the jumper slow and then come to a complete stop. Suddenly the light levels in the jumper started to fade and as Sheppard stared out of the front screen, he couldn't help his jaw dropping in shock. Where before had been nothing but the emptiness of space, now hung the huge black gaping maw of a ship's cargo hold. The ship had to have been cloaked, Sheppard could see no other way that it could have appeared in front of him so suddenly and as he stood watching, the jumper began a gentle inexorable glide into the waiting hold.

The entire area of space directly in front of the jumper was gradually being blocked out by the ship. All Sheppard could think about was that Atlantis had nothing to compare with this, it was gigantic.

The structure appeared at first glance to be multifaceted, a mismatch of materials and technologies thrown together to form one whole unit. The surface of the ship was gnarled, the metallic sheen dulled by years of either mistreatment or vast amounts of distance travelled. There were clear divisions between the old sections of hull and new additions, the later pieces looking as if they had been cobbled together to fit. At the centre of the mismatched hull, a massive cylindrical centre section loomed high over the rest of the ship, which then splayed out in every direction like the spokes of a broken wheel.

The immense hatchway that had opened to allow the jumper to enter, now closed with a resounding boom, the soft light that had surrounded the stranded ship vanished and Sheppard found himself engulfed in complete darkness as the jumper sank quickly to the floor, landing hard enough to send a jolt coursing through his body. He couldn't see a thing. He strained to look outside the jumper front screen, but his eyes couldn't penetrate the pitch black.

A sound from the rear of the jumper caught his attention and he whirled around, his eyes immediately searching for his P90. He knew the weapon lay stowed in the overhead rack, he hadn't deemed it necessary to re-attach it to his tac vest whilst trying to reinitialise the failing jumper systems, it would have been too cumbersome.

As quickly as the light had vanished, it now reappeared and the interior of the jumper was bathed in an intense bright light emanating from a source outside in the hold. The light burning into his retina's caused Sheppard to immediately cover his eyes with his hands to soften the pain, but as he struggled to see past his fingers, he could just make out the rear hatch of the jumper and something was definitely wrong. The hatch was moving slightly and he could see burning holes starting to appear in the hull by the control panel; somebody was pretty desperate to get in; but Sheppard was just as determined that they would stay out as he reached up into the storage rack for the weapon that was stashed there.

As the dripping metallic holes by the control panel grew larger, the access panel finally dropped away and Sheppard resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have company, and very soon.

OoOoOoOoOo

Sheppard's eyes were gradually starting to adjust themselves to the intensity of the light shining into the front of the jumper. He could only assume that the light was designed to disorientate anybody on board and it had worked, for a while. His head had started pounding and he could feel the sweat dripping from his forehead as he watched the attack that was being staged on the rear hatch. He held the P90 aimed steadily at the hatch area, waiting for a clear target to shoot at. These people could not be friendlies. The way they had grabbed the ship smacked of hijacking and Sheppard grew angrier by the minute.

'_Who are you people anyway, damn it!' _

Sheppard couldn't help but think that the people on the planet must have been involved in this act of terrorism. How else could his attackers have known where he would be, this couldn't have been a random act, could it?

The hatch finally gave way. The top edge started to open and Sheppard could see metal hooks being thrust through the small gap, then the sound of a winch could be heard in the background, its guttering mechanism obviously struggling with the task of pulling the hatch open. The ancients knew how to build their ships and the hatch held fast as the strained winch engine was geared up. At last the metal gave way and the hatch groaned an apology as it slowly dropped down to hit the ground. Sheppard was ready as soon as the hatch had shown the last signs of stress. He stood solidly with the P90 to his shoulder as the dust settled, then he saw the figure standing at the bottom of the ramp and he hesitated, just enough. The woman who held the stun gun saw his hesitation, but she was not so unsure and she fired.

The energy pulse hit Sheppard square in the chest. He felt fingers of pain run roughshod across his chest and back and he cried out in pain as his muscles started to rebel. He tried to raise the gun but his arms refused to obey the simple order and he could feel the weapon dropping to the ground from useless fingers. Another figure ran up the ramp at him as he stood still and as if there was any doubt that he was at the mercy of these people, he could only watch as a hand was raised and the butt of a gun descended on his head. There was a momentary flash of brilliant white followed by intense agony, then his world rotated and he fell to the floor. As he lay on the filthy floor, his eyes followed the legs of the woman as she walked towards him up the ramp. The pain was threatening to overwhelm him as she crouched beside him, but he heard her speak and the words chilled him to his very core.

"Welcome Traveller, we were expecting you…."

Sheppard tried to lift his head off the metal ramp, but the movement only succeeded in increasing the pain in his skull. The woman signalled to two of her companions, who had been waited behind her out of sight. She indicated forward, waiting for them to lift Sheppard to his feet. As the two men lent over, Sheppard summoned the last of his strength and grabbed hold of their shirts, pulling them towards and over his body. They were well built, but they had been caught by surprise and finding their balance gone, stumbled over. Sheppard took the opportunity to push himself up off the floor, partially blinded by the blood streaming into his eyes from the deep cut above his eyebrow. He had noticed the discarded P90 lying on the ramp to his side and he dived to grab at the weapon. The woman was too quick. As he moved, she had dropped quickly, twisting around and side swiping his legs as he moved to the side. Sheppard felt his legs swept from under him and landed hard on the ramp, the metal ridges digging furiously into his back. His head was telling him to get up, but his breathe had been pushed from his lungs upon impact with the floor and all he could see were stars.

"Imbeciles! Do I have to do everything myself!" She grimaced at the two men struggling to their feet, then walked over to stand beside Sheppard. As he looked up at her, she smiled thinly.

"You have already exceeded my expectations Traveller, let us now hope that you can fulfil the promise that we have heard so much about."

Sheppard turned his head to the side, but she lent over and grabbed his face in her hand.

"You may not know it right now, but you are going to help us more than you could ever imagine…..in time"

"G-go to hell!" Sheppard grimaced as he spoke, his head echoing the words tenfold. He shut his eyes in pain, but she was not done.

"You may end up wishing that you could choose that place over this in time, we shall see. Co-operation with us is usually the best road to travel, don't you agree gentlemen?" she looked over at the two men who were eyeing Sheppard dangerously.

"Yes, Commander." The taller of the two men answered quickly, but his colleague continued to stare at Sheppard.

Sheppard groaned and tried to turn onto his side. The smaller man was at his side in a instant and as his boot lashed out and made contact with Sheppard's head, the last thing that Sheppard heard before his world started to disintegrate was the shouted order,

"Stop it Silas, we need him alive!"

Sheppard's vision started to grey at the edges and the pain started to take over as he felt himself lifted off the deck. As they moved away from the little jumper, Sheppard could feel his legs giving way and with a final shudder his body gave in and unconsciousness overtook him.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed, it does a heart good!!! Anyway…away we go….

**Chapter Three**

Sheppard couldn't help but groan as his opened his eyes, the light above him was far too bright and he swallowed hard as he took his first look around at his surroundings.

The room that he now found himself in was almost completely white. There were no windows, but he could just about see the door from where he lay and the guards stationed outside, if he twisted his head at a near impossible angle. He glanced down at his chest. He had realised pretty quickly that he couldn't move and now he could see why. There were thick straps crossing his body at his chest and knees, and his wrists were strapped to the sides of the examination table. His boots were gone and the same thick strapping held his ankles still. He swallowed quickly as it dawned on him where he was, and he suddenly felt the briefest moment of fear as he looked around and took in the row upon row of shelves lining the otherwise stark room. The metallic shelving held various canisters and items of scientific equipment, but it was the glass jars that he couldn't tear his eyes away from. The smaller jars looked to contain tissue samples; fairly large tissue samples, whereas the larger jars contained what looked too much like human organs.

Sheppard struggled with the bonds holding his body down, but the leather straps were incredibly strong and all that he achieved after twisting and turning were sore wrists and ankles. His heart was beating way too fast in his chest as his mind started to process the various scenarios that could play out here. His head throbbed mercilessly, but there was nothing he could do to appease the pain and his eyes twitched in irritation as the dried blood that still coated his face cracked and crumbled into them. He could feel the muscles in his back protesting, the table was not padded and the smooth metallic surface only aggravated the bruises that he could feel forming there.

The door opened and Sheppard tried to twist around to see who had entered, but who ever it was, they were busying themselves behind him and he couldn't see their face.

"What do you people want with me. I would have come visit quite happily if you'd only asked me nicely you know!"

He still couldn't see the person behind him and they obviously weren't in a talkative mood. The door opened again and a second person entered the lab. This time he felt their eyes on him and he again struggled to loosen the bindings.

"It's no good traveller, they are not going to break so you may as well give in!"

It was the same voice as from before, the woman from the hanger. As Sheppard tipped his head back, he could just make out the woman's form, but upside down, he couldn't get a clear idea of her features, plus he had jackhammers at work behind his eyes, so clear vision was a bit of an issue at the moment.

"What do you want with me!"

He was getting angry now. He could feel the fear gripping his chest and he didn't like the sensation one bit. He was defenceless, his body confined completely by the restraints. He pulled hard at one of the wrist straps, rattling the buckle against the side of the table and he heard more than saw the woman approach his side.

"Why do you struggle, you cannot move, it is pointless to try."

"Nothing is ever pointless, ask your goons over there." Sheppard tilted his head towards the two men who had now entered the room. One now sported a black eye, presumably as a result of disobeying orders.

"Ah, Silas has learnt that to be caught off guard can lead to, how shall we put it… consequences, yes?" she looked at the man and his head lowered in shame.

"Now then, I believe that we should be formally introduced, do you not?" she looked mockingly at Sheppard as she spoke. "What is your name traveller, I am already aware that you hail from the city of Atlantis, so let's get past that right away, shall we?"

Sheppard tried to keep the look of shock from his face, but something must have flickered in his eyes because the woman smiled coldly.

"You didn't realise! We were expecting you!" she laughed, "We have known for quite some time that your kind have been travelling the gate system. We became aware some time ago that the Lantean city was re-populated, we just hadn't realised at the time that you also possessed the knowledge necessary to activate the ancient systems ..and ships" her voice dropped almost to a hiss as she finished speaking and Sheppard felt a cold shiver stroke down his spine as she emphasised the last word.

"It didn't take us long to figure out that all we needed to do was place a few 'discreet' sensor satellites along well travelled routes and we would catch ourselves an 'ancient'…and here you are, predictable!" Again she laughed, but the sound held no humour only coldness.

"Well, nice to meet you as well" Sheppard responded with his own sarcasm, unwilling to allow fear to show in his voice.

"Who are you people, and what makes you think you have the right to kidnap people at will!"

"At will!" again the cold laugh… "we have been planned this for some time, this was not some, 'random act'. You have something we need and I have had to assume that you will not agree willingly to our request so…"

"Agree willingly!" Sheppard was incensed, "To being grabbed from my own ship and strapped to a table, for ...god knows what end, yeah of course I would agree willingly!"

"It would be easier on you if you calmed down, what is your name?"

"No offence, but I'm not feeling so talkative at the moment, I hope you understand."

"In time, I'm sure you will feel differently, but…either way.." she looked over at the man who had up until that moment been hidden from Sheppard's eyes and indicated that he should proceed.

Sheppard struggled again with the bonds as the man walked to stand at his side. He placed the tray that he carried down as he approached the table and Sheppard could see the glass vials knocking into each other as the tray tipped slightly. Each vial had a different coloured top and there seemed so many of them.

The man was dressed simply in a beige tunic and trousers, but he wore the white coat of a scientist or doctor which hung loosely on this thin frame. As the man studied the tray, his gaunt features creased in concentration and as he raised his eyes to look at Sheppard, his sunken features reminded the pilot far too much of a skull.

"Proceed Nevik," the woman gestured for the scientist to commence and then beckoned the two men over and indicated that they should position themselves at Sheppard's sides. They placed their hands on his arms, effectually pinning him to the table; Silas pressing fingernails into Sheppard's skin and offering a heartless smile as he did.

Sheppard shouted in anguish as the doctor pulled a syringe from his pocket.

"You don't have to do this!"

"We do, and we will" the woman nodded to Nevik, who seemed reluctant to proceed.

"Are you sure Commander Larrin, this seems, wrong?"

"Don't question my actions Nevik, you know why we need to do this. The wraith are a scourge and we need to be rid of them!"

Sheppard was confused, "The Wraith! They are as much an enemy of ours as they obviously are of yours!"

"Maybe, but we have much more at stake than you!" she dismissed his voiced protest, "Enough! Nevik proceed!"

The scientist pulled the cover off of the syringe exposing a vicious looking needle. Sheppard struggled against the bonds but he was held stationary by the pressure exerted by the men at his sides. He watched in horror as Nevik wrapped a rubber tube around his bicep and pulled it tight, then stood back and waited for Sheppard's veins to erupt under the taut skin.

"Don't, ..don't do this, you don't have to.." he tried to look into the eyes of the scientist, but was greeted with a blank stare in reply. As the thick needle slid into his vein, he bit his lip and closed his eyes, not wanting to watch as vial after vial was filled with the crimson fluid.

The pressure on his arms loosened off slightly and he opened his eyes. His head was starting to pound again and he felt slightly sick, but looking at the amount of blood that they had taken , he really wasn't surprised.

"We are done here Commander." Nevik stated matter of factly, then lifted the tray of samples and disappeared behind Sheppard's head once more.

"Release his arms!" Larrin gestured to the men holding Sheppard down and they released their hold, but not before Silas dug his fingers into Sheppard's arm again, his eyes sharp with anger.

"Take him to the holding room Silas, and this time behave, I will not be so lenient in the future." Larrin gave the guard a look that begged him to argue, but he obviously knew better than to cross her and lowered his eyes as he started to release the bindings on the table.

As the leather straps dropped off his limbs, Sheppard felt the blood pumping once more to his starving extremities; his feet and hands had started to go numb under the pressure of the bindings. A hand under each arm lifted him to his feet, but his strength abandoned him and his legs buckled. His head swam and he could feel the nausea building in his chest, but the men jerked him upright and he was herded towards the door.

"Your name traveller?" Larrin held her hand up, halting the retreat. "What are you called?"

"You ask me NOW !... After what you've just done!" Sheppard was appalled at the woman's brazen question.

"I am interested. Do you go by an Ancient name?"

"And as I said before ...go to hell" Sheppard turned away from the woman and looked enquiringly at the two men, "Well, looks like its just us three, cosy.."

The men looked to Larrin and she indicated for them to leave, but not without a parting shot, "You don't realise it yet, but you 'will' help us achieve our goal," then she shooed the group away with a wave of her hand and turned back to Nevik.

Formally dismissed, the two men half carried, half dragged Sheppard out of the door and down the grey panelled passage outside. The corridor wasn't well lit and Sheppard caught only glimpses of his surroundings as he was man handled away from the lab. As they moved further away from the lab, Sheppard could hear vague noises, the sounds of people going about their everyday lives. He wondered if they were even aware of what was transpiring under their noses. As abruptly as they had started down the passages, they came to a stop and Silas reached out towards a door set into the panelling. Sheppard stood swaying at the door, his balance completely out of kilter and as he studied the door in front of him, the only thing that ran through his mind was that from the look of the locks in the frame, it definitely wasn't going to be the TV room.

Silas took a small box from his jacket pocket, pointed the devise at the door and pressed as series of keys. The door opened with a soft hiss and Sheppard could see that what ever the door was made from, it was thick- very thick.

"You get to accept our hospitality for a while longer, enjoy your stay." A grin twisted across Silas's face and he indicated that Sheppard should enter the room.

"I should tell you that your hospitality sucks!." Sheppard couldn't help the repartee, but the back hand to his face made him think maybe it hadn't been worth it.

'_I really have got to learn to keep my mouth shut'_

Silas placed a paw like hand in the centre of Sheppard's back and pushed him forcefully through the door,

"Enjoy your 'guest quarters', you may be here a while" Silas scowled at the pilot as the door closed, then Sheppard heard the lock engaged from the outside and he was alone.

The room measured about three metres square and was, like the passageway outside, constructed of the same grey panelling. As Sheppard walked over to the low metal bed, he groaned. His head was beating an agonising rhythm in time with his heartbeat and the deep cut above his eye now throbbed with renewed vigour since Silas had struck him. A fresh stream of blood flowed down his face and as he sat down on the low bed frame, he used the bottom of his shirt to dab at the gash and hissed as the fabric brushed at the wound.

'_Damn it John, how could you let yourself get in another situation like this'_

As he lay back on the rough blanket, he could feel his back protesting the movement and joining his head in a rebellion. Turning to face the wall, Sheppard gave the panelling a once over, hoping to discover a weakness in the construction, but then gave up. Even if a weakness could be found, he was light years away from any one who would be able to help him anyway. As his eyes closed, the futility of his situation struck him and all he could think about were the friends that he had made back in the city, his home.

And we are done for tonight... next chapter coming soon...watch this space!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Sheppard had no concept of time passing as he lay on the bed. He had given up trying to find a comfortable position on the hard mattress, and the rough blankets had been kicked onto the floor hours ago.

As he probed once again at the cut on his head, he could feel the hard swelling that had formed there under the skin.

'_Damn it, that's gonna need stitches when I get back…if I get back! Come on John, you're so good at telling everyone else to stay positive, follow your own advise for a change!'_

As much as he chastised himself for thinking the worst, at the moment his situation wasn't looking so good. He couldn't understand why they would need his blood; and so much of it as well. And why keep him locked up like this for so long if they 'needed him' so badly?

His head was pounding like there was no tomorrow and rubbing at his gritty eyes reawakened the vestiges of dizziness that he thought had gone away. As he lay on his back looking up at the ceiling, the same view that he'd looked at for god knows how long, he still couldn't make out any apparent seams. The ceiling consisted of a single panel of the same grey material as the walls outside, and looked pretty inpenetrable. He had been searching for any weak points in the structure ever since they had dumped him here, but as yet non had made themselves apparent.

He had been locked up before. His time in Afghanistan hadn't been the best time of his life, if anything it had been pretty torturous, the cell that had held him then had been just as barren as his present 'accommodation', but at least then, he had held on to the hope that he would be released eventually, whereas now…

The lock clicked on the door and Sheppard rose quickly to his feet. The light that entered the room was blinding compared to the gloom that he had been forced to endure up until now, and his eyes took a moment to adjust.

The figures that appeared in the doorway were unfortunately not new to him.

"Afternoon guys, time for a stroll?" Sheppard flashed a lopsided smile at Silas, whose demeanour hadn't improved since earlier.

"Move!" Silas had obviously felt the need to prepare for the unexpected this time around and Sheppard found himself looking down the wrong end of a gun barrel as he faced the man.

"Where are we going?..Do I need to pack?" Sheppard could see the red of anger rising on the man's face at the taunt, but he just couldn't help himself.

"You'll see, you're needed in the.. test area."

"Sounds like fun!"

Sheppard groaned and stumbled as the man grabbed hold of his sleeve and pushed him bodily out of the door. The other guard took hold of his other arm and together they walked Sheppard down the passageway in the opposite direction to the lab which, to Sheppard's mind at least, allayed slightly his fear that another round of 'blood letting' had been on the cards.

As they continued down the passage way, Silas held the gun with the muzzle jammed squarely under Sheppard's rib cage, he was not going to be caught off guard again. Rounding a corner, Sheppard stumbled against the wall, his balance still not quite there. Silas reacted instantly and Sheppard felt the gun dig furiously into the space between his ribs; enough to elicit a gasp from between his tightly clenched lips. Silas's companion pulled Sheppard roughly to his feet and gave Silas a warning stare as they continued along the corridor.

The group walked for quite some distance, passing large picture windows that looked out onto a vast open area below. The view reminded Sheppard of looking down at the ground from the top of a sky scraper. The areas below him were enormous.

The cylindrical centre of the ship had looked big enough from the brief glimpse that Sheppard had caught as his jumper had approached their ship previously, but he was grossly unprepared for the true size now he could see it face to face so to speak. The plaza below him stretched out in all directions. He could just make out the edges of the cylindrical walls many hundreds of metres away. There were green areas spattered around and he could make out people sitting innocently beside them. He was amazed at the sheer scale of the structure, but it wasn't until he looked closer that his eyes opened in shock. He could see people walking about, some with children in tow! He closed his eyes and shook his head… had he really just seen children?

"What is this place!" He was mortified at the thought of families living on this ship, especially considering what was going behind the scenes. It had to be a hell of a lot bigger than he had originally thought, but then he hadn't got the best look at it during their initial contact.

"I saw people down there, with children! What kind of ship is this, where do you come from?"

His questions remained unanswered as he was bullied along past the windows and around a corner. The passage started to dip down as they turned the corner and Sheppard became aware of a resonating hum that became louder the further down they went. Finally they came to a stop in front of set of double doors that opened as they approached and they finally found themselves in the 'test area'.

The room reminded Sheppard of the embarkation room at the SGC. There was a wide clear area in the centre of the space, but along three of the walls there were closed balconies or viewing areas.

Unfortunately it wasn't the viewing areas that caught Sheppard's attention as they entered the room, but the devise standing alone at its centre point.

Sheppard felt his mouth drying as he studied the 'machine' before him. The black leather chair had obviously been made for a specific purpose. The arms were longer than a normal seat, finishing with the same leather straps that Sheppard had already experienced in the lab previously, but these had been lined with metal bands. There was an extended leg section at the base, again furnished with the obligatory strapping and a head piece complete with restraints. But it wasn't the strapping or the seat itself that held Sheppard's gaze, but the devise suspended above it.

Like a squashed metallic spider, the devise had been strung from the ceiling using a network of poles. Intertwined through the poles, Sheppard could just see fine iridescent tubes; their contents invisible. The devise pulsed, its faceted surface alive with differing hues of light. As Sheppard watched in morbid fascination, the devise slowly dropped from the ceiling and then stopped to hang just above the 'chair', rotating slowly and pulsing in time with the resonating hum that Sheppard had heard on their approach.

The door across from them opened and Commander Larrin entered, closely followed by Nevik.

"Ah, I see our guest has arrived, so I believe we can begin." Larrin approached the group as she spoke, with Nevik trotting nervously behind her like an uncomfortable lap dog.

"Good, are you rested traveller?"

"I wasn't too impressed with the accommodation, so I'm gonna put in a complaint to the management when I check out" Sheppard gave her a sarcastic smile as he spoke, but the gun butt digging its way under his ribs again bit off any further remarks.

"Ah, humour… well let's hope that you retain that after the testing! Shall we begin!" she turned on her heel and walked over to the central chair, indicating that Sheppard should be brought also.

"Look, as much as I've enjoyed your hospitality and, don't get me wrong I would love to stay and chat, but I believe I have an extremely pressing engagement elsewhere."

Sheppard had waited until Silas had moved away from him slightly and then he had dropped his weight down sharply. Taken by surprise the guards found their hold on his arms broken and he had lunged forwards towards Larrin.

Larrin's attention had been focused on the devise, so she didn't see Sheppard approach her from behind and wrap his arm around her throat. She growled in anger as she felt the pressure on her windpipe, but she wasn't stupid and indicated that the guards should keep their distance for a moment as Sheppard turned their bodies so that she was between him and the guards.

"Look, you people have brought me here against my will, as well as taking my blood, which is very precious to me by the way; and I have absolutely no idea what you want of me because honestly, your social skills suck…"

"There, and I was hoping that you were going to be a bit more co-operative this afternoon, but I was obviously mistaken." Larrin had gestured to Nevik as she spoke. Sheppard had not noticed the scientist slip behind him as he stood with Larrin, his instincts were not at their best and his equilibrium was definitely off kilter. Nevik slowly moved up behind Sheppard as Larrin struggled suddenly, keeping his attention focused on her, then the scientist slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew a small syringe. He moved silently up behind Sheppard and unnoticed, jabbed the needle into his shoulder and pushed the plunger home.

Sheppard cried out in pain as the needle pierced his shoulder, but almost instantly he could feel his grip on reality fading away and as he watched the two guards approach, he dropped to the floor. He could still see, but his limbs would not answer his urgent requests for action. He felt numb and he couldn't think straight, his eyes flickered, making his head spin again.

He felt his body being picked up off the floor, but there was nothing he could do about it and his head hung loosely against his chest; he hadn't the strength to lift it up. He felt himself being placed in the 'chair' and he tried to struggle, but he still had no control over his movements and had to admit defeat.

"You are strong willed traveller!" Larrin brushed off her clothes and straightened her fitted jacket. "Nevik, shall we commence the testing?"

The scientist disappeared through the side door and appeared seconds later up on the balcony at the front of the room, his eyes down and his hands busy with the console in front of him.

Sheppard felt his hands and feet being pushed back into the hard leather and the restraints pulled overly tight, cutting into his skin. Finally his head was jammed back and he felt the band pulled tight against his forehead.

The leather chair felt slightly warm under his body, but the hard metal undersides to the restraints cut his wrists and ankles, burning as he twisted his arms around, desperate to find any weakness in the fastenings.

As he rotated his wrists, he could feel the metallic edges of the restraints cutting deeply into his skin, but the bands were unmoving and solid.

A movement above Sheppard's head caught his attention and as he looked up as far as the head restraint would allow him, his eyes widened in shock as the mechanism descending from above. The automated machine dropped slowly, stopping just over his head.

There were raised ports attached to the sides of the machine and as he watched in morbid fascination, the ports twisted open and it suddenly dawned on him what they were for. The metallic tubes that had snaked down above the devise between the support poles, now reappeared out of the holes and seemed to take on a life of their own, twisting and turning as they descending towards his exposed skin.

He squirmed in the chair, desperate to escape from the approaching tubes, his heart crashing against his chest and his throat parchment dry.

His head was throbbing and the cut across his eye brow had re-opened and was now dribbling a thin but continuous stream of blood down the side of his face.

He felt fear for the first time. He could just make out tiny needles at the ends of the tubes, each vicious point edging closer to his skin. He tried to pull away, but his body was held motionless and all he could do was wait and watch in horror as the needles stopped, brushing against his skin.

"Traveller, I had hoped that we would not have to come to this point, but unfortunately the blood that we took from you would not synthesize as we had hoped, so in order for us to find out weather the interface that we have developed will work or not….we need to link you directly to our systems. Hopefully if the interface works, we will then know that it is indeed your blood that holds the key to our success and that we only need to work harder to create a successful prototype. Unfortunately this interface has not integrated itself quite as we would have wished, but it does give us the link that we wish for, even if it is in a more 'primitive' form than we would have liked"

Sheppard tried to clear his dry throat and had to swallow several times, "What damn interface! What are you people trying to do here!" his head was swimming as he shouted at the group, but Larrin was unmoving,

"We have 'acquired' a ship. An ancient ship, and we need to be able to operate it if we are to stand any chance against the Wraith. Our home has come under attack on numerous occasions, but we have always managed to defend ourselves. Things change! We are no longer prepared to expose our children, and our children's children to the evil that exists out there." Larrin's impassioned speech had silenced the room, but Sheppard could not contain his own anger.

"Why couldn't you have approached us before! Why resort to this," he indicated with his eyes at the device above his head."

"We trust nobody.. that is how we have survived for so long. We take what we need to survive from wherever we can and we move on… that is our way!"

Sheppard returned her speech with the same level of passion,

"The Wraith are not choosy about their victims. We have all been there, we have all lost someone..or something to the Wraith!" he shuddered as he remembered his own experience at the hands of the Wraith and the pain that it had caused to the people around him. "You do not need to do this.."

"I know what I need to do and.. I need you to do it, so, will you help us willingly?"

"Go to hell!" John spat the words out and tried to turn away, but again found himself unable to move, his head immobile. Larrin shook her head slightly, then indicated to the upper level of the room at Nevik.

Sheppard felt the needles pierce his skin and all he could do was cry out in anguish as he felt a liquid pumped into his veins.

Burning pain, a liquid fire racing through his body was all he could comprehend. The unbearable agony assaulted his senses, threatening to send him spiralling into oblivion. He twisted in the chair, desperate to escape the agony, but again found himself unable to move, he had no choice but to see whatever this was to the end; he had nowhere to go.

As the fluid penetrated his body he could feel his head spinning. Weather an after effect of the sedative that Nevik had pumped into him or this new liquid he was unsure, but he was starting to feel decidedly sick and found himself swallowing repetitively to keep the nausea at bay. He could hear a low buzzing noise, but he couldn't decide if he was actually hearing it or if it was his mind playing tricks.

The bridge between reality and his subconscious was starting to break down, he was aware that his body was shaking, but he had no control over his muscles. Iridescent shapes floating before his eyes, twisting and turning like feathers caught in a summer breeze, changing colour from blues through to deep vibrant purples. His body felt lighter and he tried to look down to reassure himself that he was still restrained in the chair, he desperately needed to ground himself with what he could actually see; what was real.

"Enough!", the voice that called out the instruction was clipped and authoritative." Let's give the interface a chance to initialise should we."

Sheppard felt the needles withdraw and hissed as they brushed his skin.

"Now traveller, we wait for the link to initialise...then hopefully we shall see what you are really capable of."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

That's all for now folks…normal service will be resumed as soon as possible…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

His body was not behaving itself. As he slowly looked about, he couldn't get his eyes to focus on the details of the room around him, but when he closed them his head span, threatening to help him lose the contents of his stomach. He grimaced at the pain that drifted over his body, his skin had become hypersensitive to all movement, and even though he tried to keep still, the tremors in his muscles were uncontrollable.

Larrin stood at the doorway up to the balconied area and as Sheppard glanced over at her, she appeared deep in conversation with Nevik.

The gaunt scientist appeared quite animated and the raised voices could now be heard above the sound of the machinery.

"We need to reactivate the connection, how else are we going to find out if we can initialise the systems!"

"Yes Commander, I am aware that we need to re-connect, but we must wait for the chemical exchange first, then we can proceed to the second phase"

"How long?"

"Within the next few minutes if my calculations are accurate, but.. are you sure about this.. the process is not proven, you saw what happened last time we tried it!"

"I am aware of the risks Nevik, but our needs are greater and we must protect the city at all costs. And anyway the last 'test subject' was not an ancient.. you know we were misled by our sources!"

"And how do we know that the same thing won't happen again! Do you want the blood of another victim on your hands!" Nevik's voice had risen in pitch and his thin face reddened as he tried to reason with the commander, but she was as stubborn as ever,

"As I said Nevik, we have a duty to protect our families and 'nothing' is going to stop us from achieving that goal." She glowered at the scientist as she opened the door and then disappeared up the steps to the main control room. Nevik walked over to Sheppard's side and stopped beside him. He lifted the small scanner that he held in his bony hand and studied the screen, then pressed his fingers to Sheppard's neck, feeling for the pulse point that throbbed there. He tapped at the screen and Sheppard suddenly found himself missing Rodney's scathing tones as he watched Nevik working with the small scanner.

Sheppard tried to turn his head, his neck stiff and sore from being held in the same position for too long. The head restraint stopped movement in any direction and Sheppard grimaced as his neck and shoulders protested their immobile positions. Nevik caught the slight movement and looked closely into Sheppard's eyes, reaching out to lift a drooping lid. Sheppard tried to shift way from the hand, and Nevik hesitated then dropped his hand to his side.

"I am sorry for your discomfort, I don't agree with the techniques that my superiors have sanctioned for you, ..I can only apologise." Nevik lowered his eyes to the floor as he spoke, unable to meet Sheppard's look.

" You.. " Sheppard coughed as his throat protested the use.. "you could have stopped her." Nevik gave a bitter smile as he looked up at Sheppard's face.

"You have no idea how obsessive her need is to activate the ancient ship, she has dreamed of little else since she was a child. It has consumed her most of her life…but more so since her parents were lost to the Wraith." Nevik realised he had probably said too much and turned to go.

"Wait!" Sheppard called out to the scientist and he hesitated. "You must know that you can't beat the Wraith, whatever you have tucked away. The Wraith are stronger now than they've ever been and all they care about is 'culling' the next planet, nothing else!"

"I know, we are very aware of the strength of the Wraith hordes, but Larrin is sure that the Ancient ship we have will be the turning point in our struggle to out manoeuvre them." Sheppard saw the struggle on the man's face, the uncertainty.

"We haven't found an Ancient ship in our database that would ever have been capable of achieving what you are suggesting. Where did it come from?"

Nevik looked up at the control room, his nervousness apparent.

"The ship was discovered many generations ago on a distant planet. The city had landed there to salvage materials for rebuilding and the ship was found abandoned. Our ancestors managed to bring the ship into one of our biggest storage facilities and there it has stayed, waiting for us to provide the necessary technology to activate it's systems."

"Why do you need me, why can't you just adapt your own technology to the ancient systems yourself."

"Ah, believe me we have tried, but our own systems contain a certain level of organic compounds which we have found renders the ancient system almost impossible to integrate. We worked on the problem for many years and finally discovered through trial and error that we needed a 'conduit' to allow a link to be formed. Unfortunately for you, the human body turned out to be the best receptacle for the blending process, but it has to be the right body, one that already contains the genetic code of the ancients. We have introduced a small amount of the organic matter that I mentioned into your blood stream. It should allow a neural link to be formed between our own systems and those on the Ancient ship, through you." Nevik smiled with pride as he described his methodology, but all Sheppard could think of was the alien organic matter floating around inside his body!

"Believe me when I say that we tried extensively to combine the two components outside the body to create a 'hybrid' systemic activator, but it always failed; apparently the only way to combine the two is within the body itself. The part of your blood that allows you to activate the ancient ships, also apparently protects you from the lethal poisonous effects of our organic component!" Nevik again touched Sheppard's neck, and apparently satisfied, turned and signalled to Larrin, who disappeared from the viewing window.

"I shouldn't have said as much as I have, but I felt that it was only right that you be aware of what we had done. The second stage linking can be .. unpleasant, I have not seen it accomplished successfully yet, unfortunately all of the test subjects perished before the end of the trial, but none held the ancient genetics so strongly as you do. If the pain becomes too bad, I can give you something in the way of pain reli….." Nevik stopped talking as Larrin appeared again in the doorway.

"Nevik are we ready to proceed yet?" Her voice betrayed her impatience.

"Yes Commander Larrin, he appears to be ready for the second stage linking, but are you sure that we should not wait until…."

"No!" Larrin cut him off, "We have never had a test subject as compatible as this one and I wish to continue as quickly as possible!"

Sheppard couldn't help himself, "This 'test subject' can hear you damn it!"

"You should feel honoured traveller,that you are to be the first to attempt the reactivation of 'our' ancient craft. Many of my people would give up everything for a chance to be where you are!"

"Really!, Your people would have been strapped to a damned chair for hours and beaten by your guards!"

"That was unfortunate, but necessary. If you had been cooperative from the start we ……"

Sheppard was amazed at Larrin's tenacity. She honestly couldn't see that she had done anything wrong.

"Where I come from, we don't treat anyone as our enemy until we can prove that they are bad people!"

"We are not bad people! We look to our own and keep ourselves to ourselves, but the situation we find ourselves in is extreme and demands an extreme solution!"

"But you still don't take people without finding out if they would be willing to help you first, whatever the situation!"

"And would you have helped us if you had known the possible outcome to your 'aid'?"

"Well we'll never know that now will we" Sheppard closed his eyes, his head was throbbing and there was something wrong with his eyes. He blinked rapidly, but the blurriness wouldn't go. He couldn't lift his hands to his face because of the restraints so there was nothing he could do to help clear the fuzziness.

"Nevik, prepare the second phase link."

"Yes Larrin," he looked uncomfortable with the decision to proceed, but his hands were tied.

Sheppard was starting to become very concerned about his eyes. The blurriness had continued to worsen and he now had grey patches floating in his sight line. As he sat unmoving, the grey patches continued to increase in size.

"What's wrong with my eyes?! What have you done!" He could hear the desperation coming through in his voice; then his vision disappeared completely and his world turned black "I- I can't see!"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Well, sorry for a shorter chapter this time, but needs must…. Chapter six will follow after my fingers have a rest from the keys!!


	6. Chapter 6

Well here we go again. Just to let you know, I had to go back and make a tiny edit to chapter two. I suddenly realised that I had included Beckett's name in the story and as this is set season four, I've changed the name reference.

**Chapter Six**

Disorientation hit him hard and even though he knew he was sitting still, strapped to a chair, his equilibrium was way off. The compound that they had introduced into his blood had not only taken away his sight but his balance as well.

"Aah.. what's wrong with my eyes!" Sheppard felt his grip on reality slipping, his mind was trying to deal with his new condition and he could feel the fear building as he thought about the consequences of losing his sight permanently. The dizziness that had up until that point been in the background was also getting much worse, he could feel the nausea building in the pit of his stomach and the sweat prickling his face.

He was a pilot first and foremost. His skill in the air wasn't just his job but his passion as well and the thought of losing the ability to take pretty much any aircraft through its paces was what kept him motivated; it was why he was still in the Forces at all. If it hadn't been for his superior flight capabilities, he was damned sure that they would have kicked him out years ago, especially with a track record like his.

The pain in his head and behind his eyes was increasing and he could feel his body stiffening with the effort of controlling his still rebelling muscles; the tremors were causing cramps in his legs and all he wanted to do was drift away; he didn't know how much more of this torment he would be able to stand.

"Nevik, this did not happen to the others during the tests! I am aware that their blood chemistry was affected and the consequences of that were, unfortunate …but I was unaware that their sight was affected! What has changed this time, will this have an effect on our progress?" Larrin for the first time sounded concerned. Weather because of the consequence it may have on the testing or because of a genuine concern for his health Sheppard was unsure, but there was definitely uncertainty registering there.

"I don't believe that the side effect will be permanent Commander. The systemic link is neural based and I am going to assume at the moment that his eyesight has become unnecessary, almost an encumbrance in that process. You must remember that we are going down paths that we have not travelled before Larrin, none of the previous subjects had anywhere near the same level of Ancient genetic material in their blood, we should therefore expect the unexpected in this case."

Sheppard could feel his control over his body breaking down. The tremors in his hands and legs were now much worse and he could feel his eyes flickering from side to side under his lids.

"Nevik, I think we need to proceed, as quickly as possible." Larrin was definitely worried, her voice betraying the doubt that she was obviously harbouring.

Sheppard heard steps approach his side and felt the straps holding his arms and head releasing. The bindings around his legs loosened, and he almost felt afraid as he felt hands circle his biceps, pulling him to his feet. His legs buckled immediately, their strength gone; along with his balance. The dizziness hit him like a solid wall and if he hadn't been supported on both sides he knew that he would have ended up on the floor. His stomach rebelled and he had to swallow hard to prevent himself from throwing up. The sweat was beading on his face now and as they started to move forwards, he could feel the liquid slowly running down his neck.

"Slowly! We have come this far, we do not want to cause additional problems!" Larrin's voice came from in front of Sheppard as they crossed the room. His legs wouldn't work properly and he stumbled several times; but each each time he was stopped before he hit the floor. They walked slowly forwards and he started to feel a distinct drop in temperature as they left the observation room and proceeded down another passageway. The lower temperature was a blessed relief to his hot body and he could feel the disorientation fading slightly as his brain started to adjust to his newly darkened world.

The passage way was definitely dropping down the further they went forward and Sheppard tentatively started to reach out with his hands, searching for the edges of the space, desperate to centre himself, but the pressure on his arms increased each time and he was pulled back into the centre of the passage and away from the perimeter walls.

They continued along the passage for another short distance before Sheppard felt the pace slowing and they came to a stop. He heard a door open in front of them and he was herded forward into a completely different environment. He could feel a distinct breeze against his face, the air was obviously keep cooler in this section of the city-ship and he turned his face to the breeze and relished the cooling effect that it had on his overly hot face. His nauseous stomach had settled slightly and he felt a little bit more in control of his body, but his sight was still dark and he couldn't shake off the morbid fear that his condition could be permanent, irrespective of what Nevik had said.

"Silas, the hatch please, open it" Sheppard felt one of his arms released, but he was in no condition to move from where they had stopped, or try another break for freedom. He heard the hiss of releasing pressure off to his left, then the sigh of a hydraulic mechanism engaging.

The sound of metal hitting metal echoed around the room and Sheppard got his first real impression of the size of the area they now inhabited. The echo rebounded off the walls around them and Sheppard was fairly sure that they were now standing in one of the ships immense hangers.

Sheppard became aware of someone approaching his side and he flinched as he felt a touch to his head. There was a sudden sharp pain in Sheppard's temple and he flinched, gasping as the cold metallic disc that had been placed against his skin started to attach itself. He felt the sensation of something digging into his head and he cried out in pain, nearly dropping to his knees. His head felt as if it was going to explode and he tried to lift his hand to grab at the disc on his temple, but it was jerked away and pushed back down to his side.

"The pain will fade momentarily, please try to be still. You must let the interface module connect properly.

"What are you doing to me! Get this goddamn thing off my head, I-I.." his speech was broken as a sudden agonizing flash of pain shot through his head, threatening to overwhelm his senses completely and he found his legs unable to support his weight. His body contorted in agony and he cried out.

"The connection has now been made, the pain should lessen shortly!" Nevik's voice was clipped with tension, he had obviously not been prepared for the extreme reaction that was occurring in Sheppard's body.

"Silas.. Traveen, take him up to the control area and wait for us there, we will follow shortly."

Sheppard felt the familiar hands on him again and once more found himself being manhandled up a ramp and into what he could only presume was the ancient ship that they had been keeping hidden away. He was lead through several doors before they reached their goal and he then found himself placed non too gently into an eerily familiar seat. The seat reminded him very much of those used in the jumpers back in Atlantis and he found himself longing for the familiarity of his small ship now.

Once again his hands were bound, but this time the bindings felt much more temporary, unlike the leather and metal straps of earlier. He could feel the arms of the chair under his fingers, the supple material again similar to that of the puddle jumpers back home.

'_Come on John, you can do this…keep it together!'_

His pain filled mind struggled to make sense of his surroundings, of what was happening to him. He couldn't seem to string his thoughts together properly, any coherency seemingly lost to him.

"Ah, we appear to be ready" Larrin's voice cut through his thoughts. She sounded so calm; so calculating. Sheppard turned his face towards where her voice had originated,

"Y-you cannot honestly believe that I am g-going to help you do this, you must be out of your goddamn mind!" Sheppard struggle to keep his voice from betraying the pain and fear that was coursing through his body, he didn't want her too see the weakness that was pervading his body and mind.

"I am sorry traveller, but you really don't have any choice now," a slightly wistful tone entered her voice as she continued, "we have come too far to stop now, this is the best chance that we have had to activate this ship and I will not allow anything to get in the way of that now." Sheppard heard her walk across the cabin area,

"I-I won't do this!" He couldn't understand the callousness of her actions, her utter disregard for the welfare of somebody who to her was a complete stranger.

"You really are in no position to stop me, Nevik would you connect the interface please." Sheppard felt more than heard the scientist brush past him as he sat in the chair. Fingers brushed against his face and then he felt a push at his temple.

Bright intense light invaded his senses and he couldn't stop his body from tensing, the muscles trembling as he strained against his bonds. As quickly as the light had appeared, it vanished and he relaxed slightly into the chair.

"Nevik!, the display… it has activated!"

"Yes Commander." Nevik's voice held degree of resignation, " as you know, these displays are linked to the actual thoughts of the pilot and activated by the genetic material in their blood, but we needed to be able to control those thoughts via our own interface. I believe that that interface is now working!"

Sheppard pulled at the bonds around his wrists, he needed the pain, he needed to fight the influence that he could feel being exerted upon him. He could 'see' the HUD in his mind, it was all far too familiar, but as he tried to block out the images, squeezing his eyes shut, they refused to dissipate. He saw the HUD display change in his mind, the images showing him power settings and capacity ratings.

"Goddamn you! No! You can't do this, I'm not going to let you!" His voice cracked with the strain. He struggled to concentrate on the reality of his situation, but his mind was full of the images of the ship powering its systems and however hard he tried, he couldn't block them out.

"Nevik, lets move on to stage three, we need to see if the power module is still at full capacity after this length of time"

Sheppard pretty much knew what was coming before the pain actually hit him. As soon as Larrin had given the order, he had felt the change. He braced himself but still found himself woefully unprepared for the barrage of images flooding into his mind and the pain that accompanied them. He could feel the ZPM powering up and the systems coming on line as the instructions flooded from Nevik's console. The console had been connected to the neural link through a series of wires, which in turn were attached to Sheppard's head.

The ship shuddered, Sheppard could feel the vibrations coming through the floor under his bare feet.

"The power systems appear to be at full capacity Commander, but if we are going to attempt flight, will need to be sure that we have full control."

"You have doubts Nevik?" Larrin sounded scornful as the scientist expressed his fears, "Do you doubt that we can control the ship through the interface, or that we can control the interface itself?"

"Commander, we have no idea how much effect the interface will have on our…" he struggled to find the word that he needed, but Larrin answered for him.

"You mean the Lantean Nevik."

"Yes Commander, the 'Lantean'….. as I said, we have no idea how much of an effect the interface is having on his body and mind. He is in effect channelling all of our commands and converting them to enable the Ancient systems to operate."

"I am aware of the risks Nevik, but as you know, once we can be sure that the operation of the ancient ship is possible using our own systems via the interface, we can pursue the genetic marker necessary to allow our own people the same level of use."

"That will take time Larrin as you well know. We have been working on the genetics of the Ancients for a long time and as yet we have not been able to isolate the specific gene."

"Ah, but Nevik, we have never had such a 'compatible' source before have we!"

Sheppard could feel the tension in the room around him and he could feel the eyes burning into him as he sat shaking in the pilot's chair. The only thing that gave him a modicum of hope was the fact that as yet they had been unable to isolate the Ancient gene; something that Beckett had seemingly been able to accomplish quite easily. If they were not as accomplished in genetics as the Atlantis team, maybe there was hope for him yet; but then again, if they couldn't use their own people to operate the ship, how much longer would they need him for! The answer to that question worried him immensely. If they could use his body as they had been doing, to operate the ship, he was starting to doubt his chances of ever seeing Atlantis again.

"Larrin, the Lantean needs to rest before we attempt to initialise the engines, we have no clue as to the damage we are causing to his body and it would be 'ineffectual' to allow his body to break down before we get the chance to flight test the ship."

"Agreed, we will wait for an hour, then we will return and attempt a power up of the engines, Silas, take our Lantean 'friend' back to his 'accomodation', we will reconvene as I said, in one hour."

Sheppard heard Nevik approach his side and he felt the scientist touch his temple. Immediately the images from the ship ceased, and he was shocked at how relieved he felt, but also how weak his body had suddenly become. The removal of the interface had left him feeling completely empty and suddenly much more aware of his blindness.

Before he had a chance to acclimatise himself to his new situation, he felt the ferocious grip on his arms again and he felt himself being lifted, but he lacked the strength to stand, his legs refusing to support his weight. The two men who had positioned themselves at his sides were forced to drag him up onto his feet and he felt them place his arms across their shoulders,taking his full weight. They moved off across the control room and through several doors before reaching the ramp that led down to the hanger floor. Sheppard felt his eyes drooping with exhaustion as they exited through the doorway, starting the short journey back to his room.

He heard the door to the room open and then felt himself falling forwards as the two men released their hold on his arms. He put his hands out in front of him as he fell, but still hit the hard floor with enough force to knock the breathe from his body. As the door locked behind him, he turned over onto his back and lifted his hands to his face, lacking even the strength to push himself up off the floor and onto the low hard bed. As he lay on the floor, his head pounding, his only hope now was that his team would be able to find him before it was too late; and before his spirit and body were broken.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

He had fallen asleep on the floor. Not a deep restful sleep, but a restless uncomfortable sleep, filled with horrific images of himself being taken over by the interface and his mind sucked dry. He awoke with a start, his face dripping with sweat and the still oozing wound on his head throbbing. He hadn't realised that he hadn't made it to the bed and his body now felt stiff and cold after lying on the hard floor for however long he had been there. He rubbed his hands over his eyes and after pausing for the briefest of moments, opened them. He had hoped that maybe his sight would have somehow been miraculously restored whilst he slept, but it hadn't and his world was still black. After laying on the floor for several minutes, coming to terms once again with his predicament, he turned over, groaning at the protest that his aching body made at the movement.

His head ached abominably and he pressed the flat of his hand to his temple to ease the pain. The first thing his hand made contact with was the metallic disc on his temple, and he traced the outline of its shape with his fingers before tentatively touching the centre. There were contact points embedded in the metal surface, obviously designed to take the wire connectors from the Control Console that Nevik used. He paused slightly, then slowly pushed his finger nail under the side of the disc and started to lift the metal up, testing how far it would give. The disc had attached itself firmly to his skin and as he pulled slightly he could feel that there was definitely something deeper going on underneath as a pain shot through his head eliciting a grunt of discomfort that he couldn't quite prevent.

'_Well John, looks like you're well and truly screwed this time!'_

He pulled himself up off the floor and sat on the edge of the low bed, then leaned back and rested his head against the wall behind him.

'_What I wouldn't give for a couple of Tylanol and a hot shower right now, but I pretty much think I've lucked out... Damn it, this sucks big time!'_

"What is wrong with you people! Why couldn't you just ask for our help, damn it!" John shouted at the empty room, then closed his eyes and lay back on the bed, resting his head on the rough blanket that he had folded up as a makeshift pillow. The implant was aching now and he rubbed at his temple, trying to ease the discomfort that his probing had started.

The time passed slowly and as they had removed his watch when he had first 'arrived' he couldn't tell exactly how long he had been here. He had also noticed that his tags were missing, as well the belt from his BDU's; had they thought he would try something stupid while he was being held?

As Sheppard lay on the bed, his thoughts turned to his friends and the worry that his disappearance would have undoubtedly caused. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Rodney. He would have taken Sheppard's disappearance very hard, especially as it had been his laptop that Sheppard had been forced to return for in the first place. He would be feeling guilty and Sheppard could guess that he would be blaming himself for the turn of events.

His only hope was that there had been a trail left to follow when he had been taken.

They knew where he had been heading and hopefully their first course of action would have been to visit the planet and find out weather he had actually made it there at all. If the elders were involved in his abduction, then things would then become a lot harder and he doubted that they would stand any chance of finding him. But Sheppard had to remember that Rodney was a genius, a self confessed genius at that and if anyone could find him it would be McKay, the 'superman'.

"Rodney, if ever I needed you to show off your talents, now would be a very good time!" Again no answer to his shout, but instead the lock on the door clicked and Sheppard rose quickly to his feet, ready to confront whoever had entered the room. He could feel his body swaying as he stood waiting for goon one and goon two to grab him, but nobody approached him and all that he could hear was the soft footfall as somebody approached his side.

The voice that spoke was soft and low, almost a whisper close to his ear and he jerked in surprise at the proximity of the speaker.

"You must come with me now Colonel Sheppard, I have procured transport to take you off the ship" the voice was low and Sheppard struggled to hear the whispered words,

"Who are you?" then it struck him as his battered mind finally recognised the voice,

"Nevik!, but what are you doing here?" Sheppard was amazed. The last contact he had had with the scientist, he had been accessing Sheppard's thoughts!

"You must come with me now. If I am to help you, we must go now before Commander Larrin finds out that I have changed the security protocols to enable us access to the shuttle bays."

"I don't understand, why are you helping me. As far as I was aware, all you wanted was my mind, not that I had a lot of choice in sharing!" Sheppard stepped back away from the man as he spoke, he didn't know what to think, he was confused. Should he trust the man who had invaded his very thoughts, or wait here to find out what else Larrin had in store for him. It was the thought of more of the interface that finally swayed him.

"Alright Nevik, where to... and how did you know my name?"

"I took your personal effects from the labs, these were with them" He pressed the metal plates of his tags into Sheppard's hand, as well as his belt and com unit "We need to go quickly. I have disabled the security cameras in the shuttle hanger, but we need to act quickly, we don't have much time before Commander Larrin discovers what I have done, here place your hand on my shoulder." Nevik took Sheppard's hand and placed it on his jacket shoulder, then turned to leave the room.

"As to the why," Nevik's whispered voice broke slightly as they worked their way down the passageway in the opposite direction to the Ancient ship, "I have not agreed with the Commander's methodology for some time now. She has become obsessed with the need to activate that ship and it has consumed her life to the detriment of almost everything else. Her obsession has caused the deaths of many good people, people that we could have called friend, like yourself,"

"I'm not dead yet, just a little disorientated that's all" Sheppard found himself relying totally on Nevik's guidance as they travelled through the twisting passageways of the city ship. "How long have you people been living on this ship. I saw children earlier, walking around as if nothing was wrong!"

"We have lived on this ship for many generations. We are self sufficient in most things, but we have to land occasionally to restock with the raw materials for rebuilding or expansion. We have many hydroponics areas where we grow all that we need in the way of fresh produce, but obviously we cannot manufacture everything, so we also scavenge occasionally for 'extras'.."

"You mean like pilots who are stupid enough to leave home alone you mean!"

Sheppard didn't mean to sound as sarcastic as he did, but he was still blind and it was essentially Nevik's fault.

"I tried to convince her that we should work on our own genetic experiments, but she is stubborn…" They had reached another doorway and Nevik placed his hand to Sheppard's lips to silence any further conversation.

Sheppard heard the door open in front of him, and then the cool breeze again that seemed to indicate the vast hanger bays on the ship. Nevik moved forwards and Sheppard followed as he was guided around the perimeter wall of the hanger. Nevik stopped in a small alcove in the hanger wall and ushered Sheppard into the space.

"I will need to access the shuttles guidance system before we can leave. Please wait here until I come back for you, I will not be long" Nevik's footfalls dissipated and Sheppard leant back against the wall. He was finding it difficult to accept the sudden change of events, especially since it had been Nevik who had taken his blood originally and it had been Nevik who had worked with Larrin to introduce the organic compound into his body.

'_Ok John, lets just stay focused and see how this pans out. He may be telling the truth, he may be playing twisted mind games….either way this sure beats the hell out of being stuck in that cell!'_

Nevik's quick footsteps sounded in front of him again and he felt a hand touch his arm.

"Quickly now. I have been able to access the shuttles main systems and have made it ready for flight."

"Are you coming with me then, 'cause I'm damned sure I'd find flying anything at all a bit tricky at the moment, if you see what I mean!"

Nevik struggled to find the words that he needed, "You already have the necessary knowledge to fly the shuttle Colonel Sheppard, it is already here" he touched Sheppard's head as he spoke, "Just as we needed the interface to allow us to access the ancient ship through you, you have the capability to fly our shuttle using the same interface, you just need to connect to the system"

"Whoa! If you think I'm going to allow you to connect me to anything again, you've got to be KIDDING. I don't need anything else inside my head right now!" Sheppard backed away from the diminutive scientist, hitting the wall behind him and finding himself with nowhere else to go.

"The systems will respond to you Colonel as if you were a Traveller yourself, there shouldn't be any pain or discomfort…"

"SHOULDN'T be! That's not exactly reassuring Nevik!" Sheppard couldn't rid himself of the deep fear that had followed Nevik's admission about the interface being a two way street. He could still remember the agony that had followed his last brush with their 'system' and the thought of going there again wasn't exactly top of his wish list at the moment.

"I assure you Colonel, it will not harm you this time, please-we must hurry!" Nevik pulled at Sheppard's sleeve and reluctantly Sheppard followed the man out of his hiding place and into the main body of the hanger.

"Our shuttles are guided by a computerized control system, similar in fact to the ones you would use in your own ship, except in ours they are controlled via a terminal instead of through the power of thought. To use the terminal, I will just need to connect you to the system, you will be able to 'see' where you are going by using the feeds from the shuttle itself, do you understand?"

"Understand that I've got to put myself through being connected to your machines again, yes, that I do understand. Do I like it, No…" Sheppard followed the scientist as he walked across the hanger, holding on to the fabric of his jacket like a lifeline. He found himself thinking again about the consequences of remaining like this. Being blind was making him more aware of how the simplest tasks can become impossible.

"Nevik, you said that my sight would return didn't you, that this would only be temporary. Right?"

"I have every confidence that your eyesight will return. Your body is strong and the gene that you possess has protected you from the worst of the poisons present in our organic systemic fluid. I am so terribly sorry that you have been made to suffer as you have. I wish that I had had the courage to stand up to her in the first place, but it is …complicated, she can be very difficult to reason with sometimes." Nevik stopped and took Sheppard's hand, placing it on the side of what could only be the shuttle's surface. The cold surface was not smooth, but slightly rippled under his hand and he could feel a slight vibration in the metal itself. Nevik had already opened the access hatch and once again took Sheppard's arm, leading him towards the entrance to the shuttle.

The quiet in the hanger was broken instantaneously as a door was flung open. The sound reverberated through the hanger like rolling thunder and Sheppard immediately dropped into a low crouch. Nevik stood in front of the pilot as the sound of footsteps approached them.

"Nevik, what are you doing!" Larrin's voice sounded out, raised in pitch, her irritation evident.

"I am doing what I should have done years ago, I am stopping the experiments. I won't allow you to murder anyone else for your cause. It stops now!"

"Nevik Larrin! Step away from him. You know that we are too close now to allow him to be released. We need that ship. Do you want the Wraith to win, do you want to see more people die the way that our parents died!"

"I wept for our parents as you did Saris, but we cannot let that consume our lives, we have to let their spirits rest in peace once and for all, for the sake of all of our people. I will not allow you to commit anybody else to death for something that we should never have attempted in the first place!" Nevik had backed close to Sheppards body and was now moving slowly backwards up the ramp of the shuttle, pushing Sheppard behind him as he did.

"Nevik, stop. You know I cannot allow you to do this, I will stop you if I have to."

"Would you Saris? How far are you willing to go for your 'cause', for your Ancient ship!" Nevik had nearly reached the top of the ramp with Sheppard behind him when another sound reached them.

Silas shouted as he ran into the hanger and Sheppard felt the scientist tense before him. Nevik uttered a curse and pushed Sheppard into the ship as the guard ran towards them.

"Silas, NO!" Saris Larrin's voice pierced the air as a single gunshot sounded out.

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An evil cliffy, sorry… Only one more chapter to go now, thanks again for all the kind reviews and comments.


	8. Chapter 8

Well here we are again another chapter. I had thought this was going to be the last, but it seems to have grown a bit more than I thought!! Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time and effort to read and review. On with the tale…..

**Chapter Eight**

"Silas NO!" Commander Larrin's voice rang out, joining together with the percussive report of the gun as it echoed around the vast shuttle bay.

"Nevik!" her voice stuttered, "No, what have I done!"

Sheppard could hear the keen distress in the woman's voice as he lay on the deck of the shuttle with the body of the scientist beside him.

When Sheppard had heard Silas's shout, he had reacting out of instinct, throwing himself at the area where he knew the scientist's legs were, propelling the man towards the ground, trying to push him out of the way with his body. He had felt Nevik's body jolt as the shot had been fired, then a soft thud in his side as they had landed together on the deck of the shuttle.

Nevik was now moaned loudly. Sheppard turned towards the sound and reaching out towards the scientist's body, his fingers finally finding the man's jacket. The scientist shifted as he felt Sheppard's touch, groaning as his body obviously protesting to the sudden movement. Satisfied that Nevik was at the very least alive, Sheppard rolled over onto his back, and found himself unable to suppress a gasp. The sharp pain that stabbed at his side was situated just below his ribs and as he pressed his hand to the tender area, he felt a sticky warmth seeping between his fingers and a deep throbbing agony that started to burn the harder he pressed down.

"Nevik?" Larrin's voice sounded closer now and Sheppard could feel the tension in the air as she stepped onto the base of the ramp, her uncertainty apparent in her hesitant steps, "Nevik, oh, what have I done to you, this is my fault, I should have listened to you!" her voice dropped as she continued, "You are my brother and I should have taken your council before things got this far out of hand."

Sheppard felt more than heard Nevik push himself up off the ramp beside him. The scientist grunted as he rose, he had obviously hurt himself when they had fallen.

"Your leg! You are bleeding Nevik!" Larrin's tone altered as she turned away and started to issue orders to the guards who must have followed her into the hanger.

"Traveen, go and fetch the medic, and Silas," she paused before continuing, "Silas, you are dismissed. I will be speaking to you later."

"Saris, I am not badly hurt, I believe the bullet only grazed my leg; but if Colonel Sheppard had not pushed me out of the way, then I am not sure what would have happened!"

"I am aware of that Nevik," Larrin's voice had regained its previous authority, but there was also an under tone of something different this time, "I am very well aware what 'may' have happened Nevik" she paused before continuing, " and I will be attending to that later, but for now let us be thankful that you are not too badly injured." Larrin turned, and approaching Sheppard, stood beside him on the ramp. She cleared her throat and with none of the previous contempt, she attempted to express her thanks. "You saved my brothers life traveller, you…."

Nevik must have indicated to her that he wished to speak, because she paused,

"Saris, his name is Colonel Sheppard, and he is not a traveller, he is Lantean."

Nevik's voice became louder as he spoke out, "The way that we have treated this man, we should be ashamed of ourselves. We think of ourselves as decent people; as people who wish to pass on our proud heritage to our children. What have we become that we could allow ourselves to descend to such gross acts of barbarity. We have taken a good man, a man who has done us no wrong and we have subjected him to unspeakable things. This must stop now! We cannot allow our children to have to live with the guilt of what we attempted here, they deserve so much better than that… they must.." Sheppard heard Nevik's voice falter, the shock of his injury finally taking its toll. Somebody rushed forwards just as the scientist crumpled, catching his body before it collided with the ramp.

Sheppard sat still on the cold surface of the ramp, listening to the voices around him. His hearing was zoning in and out and he could feel the sweat starting to break out again on his body. The blood that he could feel still welling up under his hand was now starting to dribble down over his fingers and the dull ache that he had thought originally to have been a bruised rib, was now becoming a much more serious problem. His side was on fire and as he cautiously felt around to his back, the absence of another wound made him even more concerned; it basically meant that somewhere, deep inside his belly, he still had a bullet floating about.

The activity around Sheppard had increased exponentially as soon as Nevik had fallen. Larrin had crouched by her brother's side, calling for a stretcher and the medic, worry reducing her to the state of a concerned sister rather than the authoritarian leader of her nomadic people. As she tended to her brother she once again tried to express her regret to the fading pilot.

"I have no way to make right what has been done to you 'Colonel Sheppard', I can only tell you that it will never happen to anyone else. I let my need for revenge against the Wraith overshadow my own family priorities and my own brothers welfare. I have let myself become as much of a monster as the creatures that I abhor above anything else."

Sheppard could feel himself slipping away, his hearing buzzed and Commander Larrin's voice had faded almost to a distant whisper. He could feel himself sliding sideways down onto the ramp, but just as he thought he would hit the deck, he felt hands grasp his shoulders and he was lowered down onto the cool surface of the shuttle ramp with surprising gentleness.

"Colonel!" Nevik's voice carried concern. He had clearly recovered enough to notice Sheppard's predicament and now stood beside his sister, "Saris, he is injured, we have to help him!"

Sheppard could feel his consciousness ebbing away as he lay trembling on the ramp, just as he could feel his life's blood seeping through his fingers and running down his side to stain the metal surface beneath him. All he wished for at this moment, more than anything else, was that he could be back in Atlantis, back with his friends. If he was going to die, he didn't want it to be amongst strangers, he needed to see his 'family' again.

"Saris, where is the medic? This man saved my life, even after everything we did to him, we need to get help for him now!" Nevik couldn't keep the emotion from his voice, "Where is he, …there is so much blood!" Nevik knelt at Sheppard's side and he felt the scientist's bony hands on his as Nevik drew his blood soaked fingers away from the wound and lifted the cloth of Sheppard's shirt. Nevik couldn't stop himself from gasping in horror as he saw the extent of damage that the bullet had caused.

"It must have hit you after it grazed my leg, I am so sorry Colonel Sheppard." Nevik's voice held profound regret.

Sheppard reached out with his hand and grasped the scientist's jacket front. He swallowed several times, trying to control the hitch in his breathing; each breath took so much effort and was followed by an incredible pain in his side. He closed his eyes as, even though he couldn't see, his lids were becoming too heavy to hold open; he wanted to drift away but knew he couldn't. He had friends waiting for him and he would be damned if he was going to give up and fade away here and now.

"Our medic has arrived Colonel Sheppard, he needs to look at your wound" Nevik uncurled Sheppard's cold fingers from his jacket front and stepped to the side. Sheppard felt new, cold hands on his skin. The medic pushed fingers onto his carotid artery and waited, feeling for his pulse. He felt the same cold hands touch his side and he clenched his teeth in agony as his skin was palplated. He was turned onto his side gently, eliciting a hiss as the medic checked for the wound that Sheppard knew wasn't there, the exit wound. As he was gently placed back on the ramp, he heard the medic move away. Sheppard heard a few words as the medic spoke to Commander Larrin, the words 'internal bleeding' were mentioned and 'possible infection', but he couldn't seem to process words properly, his world had descended into pure pain and darkness; all encompassing darkness. The medic returned to his side and knelt down again. This time, Sheppard felt a dressing being placed on his side and then pressure was put on the pad. He couldn't stop himself, he cried out. Just as the pain threatened to overwhelm him, he felt a prick in his side and the feeling of ice spreading through his veins.

"He still has the bullet inside, we will need to remove it if he is to stand any chance of surviving at all." The medic's voice was calm, but there was an undercurrent of concern there as well.

Sheppard didn't want to be here, he wanted desperately to be amongst his own people. As the medic once again leant over, Sheppard tried to speak. His voice came out as a shallow whisper, "L-let me go. You need to let me go back t-to my own p-people, they can h-help me" The effort of speech almost overwhelmed his already weak body and he collapsed back onto the ramp.

"Saris, can we contact his people. Can we send him back?" There was trepidation behind Nevik's question, he needed for Saris to let this go- this was the ultimate test of her change of heart. The pause before she answered seemed to last an eternity, but at last she conceded,

"Contact them, we will need to arrange a place of meeting." She spoke to the medic who stood waiting, "Will he survive until then Tallis? Can he survive the wait if we do nothing ourselves?"

The medic considered before answering, "If we do nothing, he will weaken and the risk of complication is far greater. If we intervene now ourselves, we may be able to control his condition for longer, but either way he is very sick man."

Sheppard didn't need anyone to tell him how bad he felt at the moment. He was finding it difficult just staying conscious, all he really wanted to do was fade into the blessed black that he knew was waiting, but what of his friends, what about the people he would leave behind. No! he had to hold on, he had to hold on until he was home.

Even in his weakened state, Sheppard still felt the need to ask Nevik one final request. He struggled to raise himself off the hard surface, one hand pressed against his side in an effort to prevent more of his blood from painting the floor.

"Nevik," his voice came out as a whisper again and he had to wait until he felt the man beside him before he continued, "T-the disc on m-my head. Can you…take it off." The effort cost him dearly and he felt drained as he fell back, "t-take it off," his body didn't feel like his own as he whispered the words again, his eyes closing.

"Of course, …Colonel Sheppard, ..Colonel Sheppard!!"

Sheppard jerked awake at the sound of Nevik's concern and he mumbled, "Still here, just."

"I will take the interface module off immediately, please don't make any sudden moves,"

"T-think the time for those w-went a while ago," Sheppard lay still as he felt Nevik connect wires to the implant in his temple. As quickly as the implant had been attached, it now released its hold on him and he felt the disc fall to the floor. His head ached as soon as the disc was disconnected, but the ache soon paled into insignificance as agony suddenly thundered through his side and across his belly. He cried out, clenching his hands against the floor as he rode the pain. He felt hands on his shoulders, holding him steady, but he could feel the dark moving up to meet him as he struggled with the tidal wave of agony washing over his head. He struggled to breathe through the pain, struggled against the burning.

"Ahhh…N-no!" He couldn't hold on any longer, as hard as he had tried, it had beaten him. And he let go……

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	9. Chapter 9

This really is the last chapter, I promise!!!!

**Chapter Nine**

He was totally unaware of the frenzied activity that followed his descent into unconsciousness.

He was unaware of the fight that began to keep him alive, as he lay seeping his life's blood onto the shuttle floor.

He didn't feel the prick in the back of his hand as the needle was inserted into a vein and he didn't feel the fluids being pumped into his dying body.

He wouldn't have known that Larrin was able to contact Atlantis; that she told them the truth about his abduction or that Elizabeth had then arranged to liaise with them on M6S 576.

He wouldn't have felt himself lifted as his body was transferred to a waiting stretcher and loaded into the shuttle along with the necessary equipment to keep him alive for as long as was humanly possible.

He didn't see the faces of his team as he was lifted from the shuttle, to be transported into the waiting jumper on the planets surface, or the shock as they caught their first glimpse of his pale, sweat soaked and bruised face.

He didn't feel the clothes cut from his body as they left the planet and he couldn't feel Dr Keller's hands as she examined the entry wound on his side and then searched for the exit wound on his back.

He didn't realise that he stopped breathing as they approached the gate, or that Dr Keller was forced to intubate him before they reached the jumper bay.

He was unaware of the battle that started the minute the ramp lowered on the jumper, the shouts of concern or the many hands that lifted the stretcher onto the waiting gurney.

He was blissfully unaware of Dr Keller started CPR as the gurney moved through the corridors of Atlantis or the blood that slicked her hands as she struggled to keep the oxygen circulating through his body.

He missed the rush into the surgical unit and the pre-op tests. He didn't know that he was scanned, or that the scan showed internal bleeding. He was unaware of the desperate hours that followed as the team fought to repair the damage that the bullet had caused inside his abdomen.

He didn't feel any pain when the surgical team finished.

He missed it all.

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The first sound that filtered through the thick cotton wool that had taken up residence inside his head, was the soft bleeping of a monitor close beside him. As he struggled against the pull of sleep, he wondered where he was. He couldn't remember there having been monitors near him in the shuttle hanger before he had lost consciousness, but then again he could easily have missed them he hadn't been in any fit state to notice anything at the time. He felt warmth beneath him, again very different to the cold hard surface of the ramp where he had been laying when things had gotten a bit 'complicated'. He couldn't feel any pain, his body was blissfully numb. He tried really hard to open his eyes, but his body felt incredibly weak and however hard he fought against it, he couldn't prevent himself from falling back again into the darkness.

The next time he surfaced, he could hear soft voices murmuring beside him. The voices were indistinct and fuzzy, but familiar. Why should they be so familiar? He tried to move his head towards the sounds, but when the tube protruding from his throat made its uncomfortable presence known, he stalled. He tried to move his hand on the bed beside him, to reach for the obstruction in his throat; but his body again portrayed its weakness and he couldn't find the energy for even that one small movement. He suddenly felt trapped again, he couldn't move properly and his body wouldn't obey his commands. He still couldn't work out where he was and he felt very vulnerable. Once again he tried to convince himself that waking up may be a good move, but his body had other ideas and he had to give up and found himself drifting away once more, letting the soft hiss of the ventilator lull him back to sleep.

"Sheppard are you in there?"

The sound pricked at the back of his mind. The voice had been so soft, whispered almost, but so familiar. It had sounded very much like Rodney's voice, but Rodney wasn't here was he, he was on Atlantis?

"Sheppard, I don't know if you can hear me, but we're all a little bit anxious to know if you're actually, well still 'you' in there…if you get my drift, that is.."

Another voice broke through the haze."Dr McKay you need to be patient. It's been very hard for the Colonel the last few days. His body has been put through a terrible trauma and it will take time for him to recover to a degree where he will be able to communicate at all."

"I am well aware of how serious his condition is Dr Keller, I was there when we pulled his scrawny frame onto the jumper if you remember! I saw the blood leaking everywhere and the gaping hole in his body! … it's just that it would be, um.. it would be good to know that he's, you know still 'all there' if you know what I mean .. God only knows what they did to his brain with that 'implant' that they used on him, let alone the gunk that they injected into his blood! Barbarians!"

"We need to be patient. As I said, we can only wait until his body has recovered to a sufficient level to allow him to regain consciousness, and that may take time."

Rodney sounded exasperated, "Yes, but…"

Another voice joined the group, and Sheppard slowly realized that he recognized the soft tones of the Athosian as she tried to calm Rodney down, and it finally struck Sheppard where he was. He was home, he had made it back.

"John needs peace to recover at his own pace Rodney, we should let Dr Keller do her job. I am sure she will let us know as soon as there is any change." Teyla's gently persuasive manner finally calming the volatile astrophysicist down.

"Well, alright I suppose I have got some important research to continue, but you will call as soon as there's any change won't you?"

"Yes Dr McKay, any change at all."

The receding footsteps informed Sheppard that his friends had left the infirmary and he suddenly felt very alone once more.Sheppard felt a hand touch his forehead, the touch cooling against his warm face and he realised that he wasn't as alone as he had thought.

"Colonel, can you open your eyes for me… I know you can hear me," Dr Keller's gentle voice sounded so soothing and he felt himself wanting to respond to her request. He heard the monitors change in tone beside the bed, noisily telling tales of his burgeoning return to full awareness.But he suddenly felt afraid to open his eyes, afraid that his world would still be as dark as it had been before.What if he still couldn't see. What if his flying days were really over! He tried hard to relax, but as he lay there, he could still feel the air being forced down into his lungs and it was hard not to want to fight the intrusive vent and the unnatural inhalation and exhalation that he had no control over.

"Gently does it, you have a breathing tube in your throat and you're attached to a ventilator at the moment, so you need to stay as calm as you can and let the vent do the work for you."

Sheppard wanted to see her face, he wanted to convince himself that he really was home and that this wasn't a figment of his fevered imagination, but the fear of disappointment held him back.

"That's it, slowly does it" He could feel her beside him. She took his hand in hers and held it gently, guiding him back.

He slowly opened his sticky eyes.

There were light and dark patches; blurred and indistinct, but still light as well as dark. The elation he felt at being able to see anything at all was quickly tempered by the fact that his vision wasn't clearing straight away, everything around him was still only a muddy blur. He blinked slowly, hoping for an improvement, but the lights hurt his eyes. Even though the light had been turned down low in the room, he still found it far too bright and he closed his eyes against it.

"That's it Colonel, easy does it, little steps." Dr Keller replaced Sheppard's hand back onto the sheet that covered not only his bare abdomen, but the various tubes that snaked from underneath, "Are you in any pain Colonel, just blink twice at me if the answer is yes and we'll see about some more pain meds."

Sheppard opened his eyes again and looked straight at Dr Keller's face, unblinking. Her features were still fuzzy, but there was definitely an improvement compared to the first time. The relief he felt was almost overwhelming.He had been forced to think about the possibility of a life without sight back on the shuttle, when the prospect of being permanently blind had been a distinct possibility. As he stared at the doctor's face now and saw her features begin to solidify, he offered a silent prayer up to whoever may have been listening.

The dull ache that he had felt in his side when he had first woken was now starting to nag harshly at him, but he didn't want to sleep again so quickly, he wanted to relish the images around him; the ceiling tiles that normally bored him to tears and the dull grey of the infirmary walls. All the mundane things now held his attention like a new born child, his eyes eager to search out the familiar.

He could feel the pain starting to build and his side was starting to burn and he finally had to concede defeat. He looking back up into Dr Keller's patient eyes and blinked twice.

"OK Colonel, I'm going to let you rest, I think that's quite enough for now. I'll give you something to take away the pain, you should start to feel it working almost immediately." As Sheppard watched, she reached out and took a syringe from the adjacent table and with a practiced hand, pushed the fluid into one of the IV ports suspended above the bed. The effect was almost instantaneous and he could feel the pain dissipating almost as soon as the fluid hit his body. His eyelids started to droop and he felt himself drift away into sleep.

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When Sheppard woke again, he wasn't alone. He could hear the gentle tapping of a laptop's keys before he had even opened his eyes and he had a pretty good idea of who was now sitting beside him.As he opened his eyes, he could see that his guess had been right. Rodney sat looking decidedly uncomfortable in the hard chair at his side, with his missing laptop perched on his legs. Sheppard lifted his hand off the sheet, noticing for the first time the IV ports taped to it's back and the fluid travelling down into his vein. He could still feel the air being pumped into his lungs by the ventilator, and this time he didn't feel quite so comfortable with his lack of control and he raised his hand towards his face. Rodney noticed the movement almost immediately and dropped the computer down on the adjacent bed as he stood quickly.

"No, no, no, I don't think you should be doing that!" he grabbed Sheppard's hand before it reached the tubes and placed it back on the bed.

"I'll get Keller, don't move!"

Rodney disappeared from Sheppard's view, running across the infirmary towards Dr Keller's office.The vent was starting to make him gag and as he struggled to take a breath, he could feel himself panicking. He could feel his self control breaking as he tried desperately to control his breathing, but he couldn't stop himself and he started to choke. Just as he felt himself starting to lose it completely, somebody grabbed his shoulders, pressing him back down onto the bed, holding him still. His vision was hazy as he looked up, but there was no mistaking the figure who loomed over him. The Satedan stared at Sheppard for several seconds,

"Sheppard you need to leave it alone, the doc's coming to take it out. Be still"

Rodney reappeared at Sheppard's side, followed by Dr Keller and one of the nursing staff. She leant over and immediately disconnected the ventilator from the tubes,

"OK Colonel, I'm going to take out the vent tube now, can you cough for me as I count to three," she waited until he nodded his head slightly, then grasping the tube, she counted. On three Sheppard coughed gently and she pulled the tube from his throat. He gagged as the tube slid away from his mouth, but the nurse was there almost immediately and Sheppard felt the cool hiss of oxygen enter his lungs as she placed a mask over his face.

"You OK Sheppard?" Ronon looked concerned as he stared down at his friend. Sheppard closed his eyes, his energy levels expended by the stress of the having the vent removed. His throat felt raw and dry and he could feel the throbbing pain in his side where he had pulled at his stitches.

"Colonel, I'll get you an ice chip, it should sooth the dryness in your throat, removing the vent does cause a bit of discomfort I'm afraid, but it should pass fairly quickly." Sheppard nodded his head, the ice sounded good. His throat felt ragged, but he needed to speak. As he tried to clear his throat, he coughed and again felt the stitches in his side pull, this time generating a gasp from his abused vocal cords.

"Here, this should help," Keller placed an ice chip between his lips and as the coolness slipped down his throat, he closed his eyes.

"Right, Colonel 'I'll do it on my own', we need to talk!"

"Rodney!" Elizabeth had entered the room just as Rodney started his tirade, "I don't think this is the place or time for recriminations do you!" she walked over and stood beside the bed, casting a glowing smile at Sheppard as she stopped.

"John, how are you feeling?"

Sheppard closed his eyes and thought hard about the answer to that question. When he had been stuck on the travellers ship he'd been struck by the morbid fear that he was going to be permanently blind. He'd thought about the fact that he may never be able to fly again and he remembered his fear that he would never see the spires of Atlantis or his friends again.

So how did he feel now?

As rough as his throat felt and as sore as his side still was; as he looked around at the people in the room waiting for his answer, he summoned a smile….

"I'm good…"

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Well that's the end. Hope you enjoyed the ride… Thanks again for your support and reviews, I am humbled.


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